A smashed pumpkin of a football month in Kansas

Kansas State and Kansas meet for the 115th time in football on Saturday. One team will feel better about itself after two terrible Octobers.

Kansas State is 0-3 in the month. A season that began with high expectations now has the Wildcats scraping for six wins and an invitation to a bowl game.

At 3-4, K-State must win 3 of 5 to end the regular season to be eligible for a bowl game. KU on Saturday is the near-guaranteed victory. After that, four middle-of-the-pack Big 12 teams: at Texas Tech, West Virginia, at Oklahoma State, Iowa State.

Things are much worse in Lawrence, where a season-opening win over Southeast Missouri State (insert directional school joke here) has been followed by six losses. Combined score in those losses: 296-110. Combined score in the last three: 151-19. In the last two: 86-0.

Unless KU can upset K-State, only the Nov. 4 Baylor game seems to be winnable for the Jayhawks. By then, the basketball team will have already played two exhibitions with another three days ahead. It’s basketball season in Lawrence.

Is this a good time to mention KU has announced fundraising for a $300 million makeover to Memorial Stadium?

K-State is a 24-point favorite Saturday. KU hasn’t won this game since Mark Mangino was KU’s coach and Bill Snyder wasn’t K-State’s coach. A rivalry win means a lot, even after a forgettable month.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 5:17 PM with the headline "A smashed pumpkin of a football month in Kansas."